Washing and scalding machine.



L. W. KNAPP 6L IVI. W. DORP.

WASHING AND SCALDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED .IULY26. 1915.

PnTenI0dSept.12,1916.

4 SHEETS-SHEET I.

JIUJ.- I IIIIIIILIEJLIII rwenonst L. W. KNAPP & M. W. DORP.

WASHING AND SCALDNG MACHINE.

APPLlcATloN FILED JULY 26. 1915.

Patented Sept. l2, 1916.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

L. W. KNAPP & M. W. DORP.

WASHING AND SCALDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED IuI.Y-26. 1915.

Patented Sept. 12, 1916.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

L. KNAPP & M. W. DORP. WASHING AND SCALDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED 1ULY2Y6.1915. 1,1 973831.A Patented sept. 12,1916.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

[IDUEIDCICIDDUU 'UNITED sTATEs PATENT OFFICE.

LESTER W. KNAPP AND MARTIN W. DORP, 0F HOOPESTON, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNORSTO' SPIIELAGUEY CANNING MACHINERY COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A.CORPORA TION OF ILLINOIS.

WASHING AND SCALDIN G MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 12, 1916.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that we, LESTER W. KNAPP and MARTIN V. Deur, both citizens of the United States, residing at Hoopeston, in the county of Vermilion and State of Illinois, have jointly invented new and useful Improvements in Washing and Scalding Machines, of which the following is a full, clear, concise, and exact description, reference being had tol the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification.

Our invention relates to washing and scalding machines, and more specifically to such machines used for washing and scalding materials which are to be usedpfor canning purposes. j

One of the objects of our invention is to provide a machine of this character which shall be simple in construction, efhcient in operation, and in which improved means are provided whereby the material is subjected to jets of water or steam from jetting coils which are adjustable toward and from the material.

Further objects will appear from the detailed description to follow and from the appended claims.

In the drawings, in which we have illus# trated one embodiment of our invention- Figure 1 is a side elevation of a washing and scalding machine embodying our invention, showing the supporting frame, the hood and drain pan, and showing in dotted lines the upper and lower jet coils; Fig. 2 is a vertical transverse section near the rear end of the machine showing the manner in which the hood is hinged to the frame and the manner in which vthe jet coils are secured in place; Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional view of the rear end of the machine substantially on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2, showing the upper jetting coils, the conveyer which travels beneath these coils, and the clutch mechanism for throwing the conveyer into and out of operation; Fig. 4 is a longitudinal vertical section of the rear end of the machine substantially on the line 1 4 of Fig. 3 showing the construction of the jetting coils and the manner in which they are mounted; Fig. 5 is a rear elevation of a portion of the machine 4showing' the hood raised to permit access to the conveyer and jetting coils; and Fig. 6 is a transverse section through one of the pipes of the jetting coil.

Referring now to the `drawings in detail our improved machine comprises a supporting frame indicated in general at 10, a conveyer 11, upper j etting coils 12 located above the conveyer, lower jetting coils 13 located beneath the conveyer, rear jetting piping 14 located above the conveyer at the rear of the machine, a hood 15 pivotally mounted on the supporting frame 10 for inclosing the jetting coils and preventing the escape of steam and water, and a drain pan 15,a located beneath the conveyer for collecting and draining ofii the condensed steam and water which is delivered from the jetting coils. Y

The frame 10 comprises legs 16 which may be formed from steel channels, longitudinally extending members 17 which may be angle irons, and braces 18 connecting the legs 16 and members 17. The conveyer 11 comprises a pair of chains 19, each link of one chain being connected witha link of another chain by means of two rods 20 extending between the chains. The upper runs of the conveyer chains rest on guides or supports 20a which are secured to the longitudinally extending members 17. Sprockets 21 are provided at each end ofthe frame over which the conveyer chains 19 pass. The sprockets 21 at the rear end of the machine are secured on a drive shaft 22 which is mounted in bearings 23 secured to the legs 16 of the frame by means of bolts 24. Also secured on the shaft 22 is a drive sprocket 25 provided with a clutch portion 26 for engagement with a clutch member 27 which is feathered on the shaft 22. The clutch member 27 has a groove 28 for engagement with the fingers of a clutch operating lever 29 pivotally mounted on the bracket 29l secured to one of the legs of the frame. The sprockets 21 at the front end. of the machine are secured on a shaft 30 which is mounted in bearings 31 secured to the front legs 16 of the frame. The upper j etting coils 12 comprise a header 32 1n whlch are screw-threaded the jetting pipes 33, the other ends of the pipes 33 being closed by means .of cap members 34C.4 The jetting coils 12 are supplied with fluid such as water or steam fromsupply piping indicated in gen? eral at 36 comprising an elbow 37 communicating with the header, *a pipe section 38 screwed into the elbow 37, an elbow 39 in which the pipe section 38 is screwed and a pipe section 40 communicating with the elbow 39. Pipe hangers 41 are secured to the cap members 34 by means nof screws 42 eX- tending through openings in the hangers 41 to the cap members. The pipe hangers 41 have bent up ears 43 in which are screw threaded the bolts 44 which extend through slots 45 in the arms 46 which are pivotally mounted on the members 17 by means of screws 47.

The construction of the. arms 46 and. supply piping 36 is such that the upper jetting coils can be swung toward and from the conveyer 11 about the screws 47 as pivots. The lower jetting coils 13 are similar to the upper coils 12 but are not adjustable toward and from the conveyer, being supported in fixed pipe hangers 48 secured to the frame of the machine. The rear jet piping 14 comprises a pair of pipe sections 49 which are screw threaded into a T-pipe fitting 50 and are closed at their opposite ends by meanp of pipe caps 51. This piping is mounted on a pair of supports 52 (which are secured to the frame of the machine) by means' of screws 53 extending through openings in the supports 52 into threaded engagement with the caps 5l. All of the piping of the jetting coils is provided with jet openings 54 shownin detail in Fig. 6. The rear piping 14 is supplied with iuid froma pipe 55 screw threaded into the A T-pipe litting 50. The hood 15 comprises elongated arched sheet metal sections 56 having lateral edged flanges 56a which are secured to fiat reinforcing bars 57. The hood is stiffened by means of reinforcing strips 58 having laterally bent ends 59 secured to the edge flanges 56a. Provision is made in the hood 15 for the entry of the piping 40, as shown at 60. The drain pan 15a comprises a trough-like member of sheet material, 61, extending beneath the conveyer and provided with a drain outlet The hood 15 is hin-g@ to the supporting frame 10 as shown at 62 (Figs. 2 and 5) and handles 63 are provided to assist in raising the hood. Avdischarge spout 64 is provided at the rear end of the machine to receive the material from the conveyer.

The use and operation of our improved machine is as follows: The sprocket 251is driven from any suitable source of power,

not shown. The clutch lever 29 is shifted to move the clutch member 27 into engagement with the clutch portion 26 to start the conveyer to traveling. The material, such as tomatoes, etc., which isto be washed and scalded, is supplied to the conveyer at the front end of the machine in any suitable manner. A. portion of the front end of the conveyer is not covered by the hood so that the material can be inspected if desired to sort out any material which is not to be used. As the material passes into the hood and between the upper jetting coils 12 and the lower jetting coils 13 it is subjected to A jets of fluid (which may be steam for scalding the material, or water for washing the material), the jets from the lower piping passing readily up through the conveyer between the rods 20.

In practice it has been found that two narrow bars 20 for each pair of links of the conveyer chains is the better construction thana single wide bar, as this construction allows the jets from the lower coils to pass through the conveyer into contact with the material carried thereby. A single narrow bar for each pair of links would make the spacing between bars too great for the material which is handled. The upper jetting coils 12 are adjustable toward and from the conveyer in order that they may be adjusted to properly spray the material, no matter what the pressure of the fluid supply. This adjustment is als0desirable for use with different classes of material and different sizes. The coils may be held in adjusted position in any desired manner, for instance the threaded. engagement of the supply piping may be tight enough to hold the coils 1n any position to which they` may be moved. The hood 15 will prevent the escape of steam and will also prevent water or steam from the lower jetting coils from escaping. The condensed steam and Water from the jetting coils runs down into the drain pan 152L and is carried to the drain outlet 61a. After the tomatoes, or other material, have been scalded by the upper and lower jetting coils they may be subjected to jets of cold water from thel rear jetting piping 14 to prevent any further scalding or cooking of the material. The material is delivered from the rear end of the conveyer to the discharge spout 64.

Having thus described our invention what weclaim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is z- NN 1. In a device of the class described, an

elongated frame, a substantially horizontal ,flexible conveyer supported by said frame and extending longitudinally thereof, 'jetting means comprising a plurality of jet pipes above the upper run of said conveyer and substantially parallel thereto, means for supporting said pipes for swinging movement toward and from said upper run comprising a plurality of links each having vone end pivotally connected to said nected to said frame adjacent the edge of the upper run yof said conveyer to swing about an axis substantially parallel to said conveyer.

2. In a device of the class described, a conveyer having a substantially horizontal upper run, means for jetting fluid on the material carried by said conveyer comprising a header extending transversely of said conveyer, a plurality of pipes connected with said header, means for supporting said jetting means for swinging movement toward and from said conveyer comprising a member extending transversely of said conveyer for supporting said pipes and forming a closure for the ends thereof, and two swinging links for supporting said transversely extending closure member one piv-,t

otally connected adjacent each end of said transversely extending closure member.

3. In a device of the class described, a conveyer, means for jetting fluid on the material carried by said conveyer comprising a jet pipe and a closure for the end of said pipe, and means for supporting said jet means for swinging movement toward and from said conveyer comprising a swinging link pivotally connected to said closure.

4. In a device of the class described, a

conveyer, means for jetting fluid on mateconveyer, means for jetting fluid on the material carried by said conveyer comprising a header and a plurality of jet pipes connected with said header, and closure means for said pipes, means for supporting said ietting means for swinging movement toward and from said conveyer comprising a swinging link, and means for supplying fluid to said header comprising a swinging pipe pivotallyk connected to said header, said swinging link being pivotally connected to said closure means.

In witness whereof, we have hereunto subscribed our names.

LESTER W. KNAPP. MARTIN W. DORP. 

